Good monitoring of private positions rests on a consistent update, at a cadence matched to stage and position size, covering the handful of numbers that actually signal health.
10 min read · Level 5
I think the best monitoring systems for individual investors are boringly simple: a small set of numbers, the same every time, in one place. Sophisticated dashboards tend to be abandoned, while a one-page table reviewed each quarter keeps working for years and catches most of what matters.
After investing, the job changes from judging an opportunity to tracking it. Most private companies send investors periodic updates, and many investors have formal information rights.
A useful update covers the same items every time:
Item Why it matters Cash in bank the most basic health signal Monthly net burn how fast cash is falling Runway in months cash divided by net burn Revenue and growth whether the business is moving Key product metric retention, usage or pipeline, by business type Wins and problems what changed and what went wrong Asks where investors can help
Cadence should match stage and position size:
Position Reasonable cadence Small angel cheque, early stage quarterly update, annual review Larger position or lead investor monthly update, quarterly call Board seat board meetings plus monthly figures
Consistency matters more than detail. The same seven items, reported the same way each quarter, reveal trends that a long, varying narrative hides.
Because without a routine, monitoring happens only when something dramatic occurs - usually when it is too late to help. A steady cadence lets small changes show up early.
It also respects founders' time. A clear, predictable request is easier to meet than ad hoc questions from many investors, and reduces the risk that monitoring becomes a burden on the company.
Educational, not personalised financial advice. Nothing in the Investor Academy is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything — what is right for you depends on your own circumstances and the rules where you live.
An angel with eight early-stage positions. They created a one-page tracker with the same columns for every company:
Company Cash Net burn/month Runway Revenue trend Last update A 1,800,000 150,000 12 mo growing 2 weeks ago B 600,000 120,000 5 mo flat 3 months ago C - - - - no update in 9 months
In ten minutes each quarter they could see that Company B needed attention soon and that Company C had stopped communicating, which is itself a warning.
Relying on occasional, unstructured news from founders instead of a consistent set of numbers tracked over time.
At or soon after investing, agree the handful of figures you would like and how often.
Record the same fields for every company each period so changes are visible.
Spend more monitoring time on larger positions and those with board or information rights.
Record the date of the last update; silence is information.
After making any private investment, and when reviewing a portfolio of private positions.
Do not demand more reporting than your position justifies. Excessive requests from small investors burden founders and rarely improve outcomes.
Investors frequently describe portfolio companies reducing or stopping investor updates in the months before a difficult fundraise or shutdown, and many investor guides and accelerator resources encourage founders to keep updating regularly, especially when news is bad.
Treat a gap in updates as a prompt to ask directly how the company is doing.
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